James Woodforde and Yarmouth
Woodforde's fourth visit, 1779
As in 1778, James Woodforde's visit to Yarmouth was prompted by the arrival of family members from Somerset. His eldest sister, Clementina Sobieski Clarke (née Woodforde), was accompanied by his niece Anna Maria ('Nancy') Woodforde – daughter of his eldest brother, Heighes Woodforde, and sister of 'Nephew Bill' – and Samuel Clarke, the son of 'Sister Clarke'.
(NB: Samuel Clarke should not be confused with Samuel Woodforde R.A., the distinguished painter, another son of Heighes Woodforde and therefore brother to Anna Maria and Nephew Bill.)
Sister Clarke and Samuel accompanied Anna Maria as chaperones for the journey and to see her settled at Weston, as had been anticipated since 1776, when Woodforde took up the living there, that Anna Maria would join him.
James Woodforde's family who visited YarmouthWoodforde met them at Norwich on their arrival at eight o'clock in the evening on the 'London Machine', exhausted after a long journey. It was 12 October 1779, and they remained with him at Weston parsonage a full six months until Sister Clarke and Samuel departed on 17 April 1780. Anna Maria, or 'Nancy' as Woodforde almost always refers to her in the diary, remained with him until his death in 1803.
From his [James Woodforde's] point of view it could hardly be called either a happy or a comfortable visit. Sobieski was 15 years older than himself, and it is unlikely that he ever had much in common with a sister who, during his childhood, must have seemed already an adult . . . Now, as a guest in his house, he found much to disapprove of. She 'had Words' with Nancy, and always had to be in the right . . . With Sam also he showed some irritation.
A family excursion
Apart from a case of Sam Clarke's night terrors, the early days of the visit seemed to pass amicably, and on . . .
26 October 1779 . . . At 4. o'clock this Afternoon we all set of for Norwich, on a Scheme to Yarmouth – Sister Clarke, Nancy & Sam went in a Chaise from Lenewade Bridge, and myself went on horseback, and my Servant Will went with me – My Man Ben also went on my other Horse to have all my Horses back from Norwich in the Evening . . . We got to Norwich about 6. o'clock, and we drank Tea, supped & slept at the Kings Head
The diary quotes the cost of the chaise from Lenwade Bridge including turnpike tolls at nine pence. This seems extraordinarily cheap for the chaise and tolls combined and may be an error given that in 1778 the tolls alone came to six pence. He gave the driver one shilling and sixpence. In order to book places on the coach to Yarmouth for the following day . . .
As soon as I got to Norwich I walked to Tombe land to the Black Horse there and got 4. Places with one outside Place for ourselves & our Man Will in the Yarmouth Coach to Morrow morn' at 8. o'clock
The inside places cost four shillings per person, and two shillings for the outside place. For Will Coleman, Woodforde's servant who had come to Norfolk with him from Somerset, this was his third visit to Yarmouth.
The weather had an autumnal feel, according to the diary: misty, with 'small rain', and the wind mostly from the south-west, though there were also some 'fair and fine' spells. The timing of the visit was fortuitous: by 9 November, the weather had turned frosty and cold, and by 15 November the diary records a very cold morning with snow, rain, and wind, followed by heavy storms in the afternoon, with the wind from the ENE.
As on previous visits, they stopped for breakfast at Acle, presumably at the Queen's Head. Woodforde describes it as 'half way' on the journey from Norwich to Yarmouth. He was clearly unimpressed with the coach driver, noting later that he did not give him a gratuity. On this excursion, Woodforde forsook the Wrestlers Inn in favour of the Angel Inn at Yarmouth.
The Angel Inn, Market Place, Yarmouth, c.1820 [private collection]
27 October 1779 . . . We got to Yarmouth about 1. o'clock safe & well and we dined, supped & slept at the Angel in the Market-Place kept by one Dark - very civil and obliging People especially the Landlady
The Angel Hotel, Great Yarmouth, GYLHaS blue plaque [photo Alan Ovenden 2022]The Angel Inn remained an hotel until 1939, but the building was demolished in 1957. The site is now occupied by two shops at 27 Market Place. The Great Yarmouth Local History and Archeological Society has erected a blue plaque in recognition of the site.
The Harbour Fort once again
The Harbour Fort seems to have been Woodforde's favourite destination in Yarmouth, and the one that he always showed to his visitors.
After Dinner we took two of the Yarmouth Coaches and drove down to the Fort where we drank Tea and were civilly entertained by the Master Gunner and his Wife, whose Names are Johnson – We stayed there till it was almost dark – Sister Clarke, Nancy & Sam [Clarke], were highly delighted with the Sea, having never seen it before
James Woodforde typically ate dinner in the early afternoon, usually around 2 or 3 pm This was customary for the period – what was called 'dinner' then would now be considered 'lunch'. Later in the evening, often around 6 or 7 pm, he might have had supper, which was a lighter meal. However, those less well-to-do people who were engaged in commerce or worked the land and who started their heavy work at 5 or 6 am, ate dinner about noon, had tea at 6 or 7 pm after the end of the working day, and supper at about 10 pm.
It may be surprising to twenty-first-century readers that Sister Clarke, having reached the age of 54, had not previously seen the sea. To place this in context, the 2016 Motel 6 American Travel Study found that 10% of Americans had never seen the ocean.
The reasons given were geographic distance – Des Moines, Iowa, for example, is approximately 950 miles from the nearest seaboard at New Orleans – and limited transport opportunities. The same may have applied to Sister Clarke, for whom a 50-mile journey by horse or carriage in Somerset in the 1770s would have been difficult and uncomfortable along poor roads.
Furthermore, Sister Clarke did not grow up in a culture of travel, and the idea of the seaside as a place for enjoyment and for sea bathing for health was still quite new in 1779. The sea was usually associated with danger, shipwrecks, storms, and with the fishing fleets and the navy. It was not until 1796 that Jane Austen recorded this exchange between Mrs Bennet and her daughter Lydia:
"If one could but go to Brighton!" observed Mrs. Bennet.
"Oh, yes!—if one could but go to Brighton! But papa is so disagreeable."
"A little sea-bathing would set me up forever."
In 1779, the average English person would not have visited the sea at all – while a small, wealthy minority was just beginning to treat seaside trips as fashionable therapy.
Mouth of the Yare and Harbour Fort (detail), John Preston, The Picture of Yarmouth, 1820 [courtesy of Google Books and the Internet Archive]After the threat of a French invasion subsided, the Harbour Fort fell into disrepair. In 1882, Albert Edward, the Prince of Wales – who later became King Edward VII – visited Great Yarmouth, where, on 31 May, he opened the new Town Hall. The Illustrated London News marked the occasion with a view of the town, which appears to replicate J.M.W. Turner's 1825 watercolour, a detail of which clearly shows that the fort had disappeared, leaving only a small mound.
The site of the Harbour Fort in 1882, 'Illustrated London News' [Private collection]Construction of the Great Yarmouth Outer Harbour, which commenced in 2007, largely obliterated the site, which is now used for warehousing.
Site of the Harbour Fort [photo Alan Ovenden 2025]Sister Clarke & Nancy rather afraid of the [Yarmouth] Coaches – We got home to Yarmouth about 7. o'clock – The Fort is near 2. Miles from Yarmouth
Heading North in a Yarmouth Coach
Caister to Yarmouth, William Faden's map of 1797 [courtesy of Andrew Macnair]The following morning the weather was unfavourable to a journey in an open coach – the diary records 'mostly Rain & Wind high from the West'. Nevertheless . . .
28 October 1779 . . . After breakfast we had two Yarmouth Coaches again and drove on the Northern Coast and were caught in a heavy Rain which made us all wet thro' before we could get to Shelter, which at last we did at a House on the Coast & near Yarmouth at the Sign of the Ship where we Stayed for above an Hour, drying our Cloaths – Sister Clarke & Nancy dropping [sic] wet – They however drank a Dram apiece as did we
The 'Northern Coast' would probably have taken Woodforde's party towards present day Caister-on-Sea – 'Caster' according to Faden's map – along the Causeway between the sandy heath of the Denes and Caister Marsh. The coaches were known to travel over the Denes themselves.
Beach and dunes at Caister-on-Sea [photo Alan Ovenden 2025]Where precisely they were caught in the heavy rain, and whether 'the Sign of the Ship' can be located today, is discussed below. Woodforde is rarely descriptive of places, and consequently, tracking down a setting from a single diary entry can only be necessarily speculative.
In Woodforde's time, the village of Caister lay just inland from the sea, sheltered from the winds and storms by the dunes. It was not officially known as Caister-on-Sea until 1927, although the railway station had borne that name since 1893. Faden's map shows a straggle of buildings along a pathway through the dunes.
An 1821 engraving entitled simply Caister Beach gives an impression of the landscape that Woodforde, Sister Clarke, and Sam would have seen. It depicts a blustery day with heavy clouds and waves breaking on the beach. The tower of Holy Trinity Church is clearly visible, as are the many windmills. On the beach, there is a shelter similar to a teepee, a windlass for hauling in boats, and fishermen working their nets.
On the high point in the distance, a watchtower can be discerned, which would not have existed in Woodforde's time. It does not appear on Faden's 1797 map, but is shown on Bryant's 1826 map. The tower was manned by the Preventive Water Guard and was probably built shortly after 1809. The purpose of the Guard was to help prevent smuggling – particularly of tea, spirits, tobacco, and textiles – which was rampant along the Norfolk coast during the Napoleonic Wars. It was a lucrative operation: excellent cognac shipped from various ports in France in four-gallon tubs could be purchased for £1 and sold in England for £4.
Caister from the Beach, 1821 [Private collection]In the late eighteenth-century there were domestic-scale establishments where ale or beer was sold and drunk on the premises. Some simply served ale in the downstairs of a cottage and were frequently run by the woman of the house. All had to be licensed by law, although some of the smaller premises were not. Some became known as alehouses. 'The Ship' may have been one such establishment, offering refreshment for the fishermen.
The Ship Inn, Caister-on-Sea [photo Alan Ovenden 2025]There is a Ship Inn today behind the dunes, along the lane from Caister village to the sea. Is it conceivable that this establishment was where Woodforde's party sheltered from the rain and drank a dram – and what kind of dram did they drink?
The most likely dram was gin. By 1779, the 'gin craze' had peaked following the Gin Acts of 1747 and 1751, which restricted who was allowed to distil and sell it. Nevertheless, it is probable that Woodforde and Sister Clarke warmed themselves with a shot of 'mother's ruin', although it could easily have been contraband French brandy. Woodforde paid the proprietor two shillings and sixpence.
The Ship Inn, Caister-on-Sea, 1815 wall plaque [photo Alan Ovenden 2025]The present building, however, dates from after Woodforde's time, as the wall plaque of 1815 attests. It is likely, though, that it was built on or near the site of Woodforde's 'Sign of the Ship'. 'R.G.' are the initials of Robert George, who constructed it as a beachside alehouse. Lacons Brewery of Great Yarmouth purchased the building in 1905.
It was an obvious acquisition for Lacons. Evidence from the parliamentary enclosure map of 1812 shows that the land on which the Ship Inn now stands (plot 107) was adjacent to land awarded to Sir E. Lacon and J. M. Lacon. The Ship Inn is now independently operated.
The diary records that the afternoon weather had improved to 'tolerably fair', and despite their soaking, they travelled back through Yarmouth to the Harbour Fort, where they took tea. Woodforde does not record the time of their return to the Angel Inn, but it was surely an adventurous day for Sister Clarke and her son.
Having returned to the Market Place Woodforde went to the Half Moon Tavern, which lay close by the Angel Inn, where the Widow Miller sold him four places on the Norwich coach the following day, for which he paid sixteen shillings in total. The outside place on the coach for Will Coleman cost an additional two shillings.
Inn, tavern, and alehouse
Historically the differences between the three were these. Inns were to service travellers and provide food and accommodation as well as drink. Taverns specialised in offering a range of wines, and were to be found rather more in towns and cities than the countryside. Alehouses far outnumbered the other two establishments. Seen as the downmarket end of the drinks trade they had one sole basic function: to sell beer. They proliferated in both urban and rural areas.
Return to Weston
29 October 1779 . . . We got up this morning about 6. o'clock and got into the Norwich Coach at 8. o'clock and set forth in it for Norwich from the half Moon
However, prior to departing Woodforde made some early morning purchases, almost certainly at Daniel Boulter's Museum Boulterianum in the Market Place, just as he had done in 1778.
To a Stick at Yarmouth – this morn'. pd. – 0 : 0 : 10 [ten pence]
To a Sixpence of Queen Eliz: also paid – 0 : 1 : 0 [one shilling]
To a Penny of the Commonwealth – pd. – 0 : 0 : 3 [three pence]
He paid the bill at the Angel Inn which amounted to £1 : 15 : 6 [one pound, fifteen shillings and sixpence]. He gave the servants a further five shillings as gratuity.
The return to Norwich followed a familiar routine. There were two men with them in the coach. The fact that he records such an apparently insignificant detail in his diary suggests that he was irritated by being crowded and forced to share with strangers. They arrived in Norwich after a journey of five hours, during which they changed coachman and breakfasted at Acle. They dined, supped, and slept at the King's Head as usual.
The following day dawned fair. Sister Clarke and Sam visited the cathedral, while Woodforde went to Freeman's, the cabinetmaker's, to order two sets of mahogany chests of drawers and six ash-wood chairs for his kitchen.
30 October 1779 . . . At 1. o'clock we set of for Weston - Sister Clarke,
Nancy & Sam in a Chaise & myself on Horseback –
Paid at the Kings Head a Bill of – 2 : 3 : 5 [two pounds three shillings and fivepence]
To Servants there gave – 0 : 4 : 6 [four shillings and sixpence]
We got home to Weston about 3 o'clock and there we dined, supped & slept at the old House – We all seemed very glad of our getting here
Sister Clarke's stay had been a source of friction, and she was never invited to Weston again. He did not go to Norwich to see them off in the London Machine, instead sending his manservant, Will Coleman, with them in the chaise from Lenwade. Nevertheless, he lent her five guineas on departure and gave Sam his Atlas Minimus. Sister Clarke's circumstances.
Nephew Bill reappears
Prior to the departure of Sister Clarke and Sam, the diarist received a letter from William Woodforde (Nephew Bill), who had accompanied him to Yarmouth in 1776 and 1778.
15 January 1780 . . . Recd also a Letter from William Woodforde on board the Ariadne Sloop now of [off] the Yarmouth Roads – He tells me that his Ship had been in great Danger striking on the Sands near Yarmouth – It was also on the Norwich News Paper – but not of again. He also tells me that he has not a single farthing in his Pocket & desires me to send him some Cash
The hazards to shipping presented by the shoals off the coast of East Anglia have been mentioned previously in these pages, and this diary entry lends a personal note to those dangers.
Finding himself strapped for cash, Bill was following in the footsteps of his father, Heighes Woodforde, the diarist's elder brother. Just a week after receiving the letter from Nephew Bill at Yarmouth, he learned that Heighes was in financial distress as a result of a legal dispute and was 'likely to go into Limbo'. His brother requested that the diarist stand surety for him. Woodforde confided both his annoyance and his hurt to the diary:
22 January 1780 . . . My Brother wants me to be bound for him, which in my present Circumstances cannot as I am distressed in many ways at present, and if I do more than I have done already for him, I must want myself – I have taken his Daughter Nancy to live with me & have been kind to his Son Will during his living with me for near 3. Years
Will – Nephew Bill – had left Weston parsonage bored and under a cloud on 7 December 1778 to go on a 'sea expedition'.
7 December 1778 . . . About 3. this Afternoon I went to Norwich with my Nephew who goes in the London Machine this Night – on his Sea Expedition, which if he does not succeed in on board the Chatham, is not to return here but go into the West & get into a Bristol Privateer
However, less than two months after Sister Clarke and Sam had returned to Somerset:
Ships of the Line off Dover, date unknown [Samuel Atkins (fl 1787–1808) public domain image courtesy of the Yale Center for British Art]
9 June 1780 . . . About 2. o'clock who should make his appearance at my House but Nancy's Brother Willm who is a Midshipman aboard the Ariadne of 20. Guns – He came from Yarmouth on Horseback this morning – He wore his Uniform – and he dined, supped & slept at my House
Nephew Bill stayed at Weston but two days and left with five guineas in his pocket, the gift of his kindly uncle.
11 June 1780 . . . Bill breakfasted, dined & drank Tea this Afternoon and about 5. o'clock this Evening he went off for Yarmouth to go on board the Ariadne – Nancy very low at parting. I made Bill a Present this afternoon of – 5 : 5 : 0
A number of Royal Navy ships have been named Ariadne. Woodforde informs us that she carried twenty guns. The ship on which William Woodforde served was a sixth rate ship of the Sphinx Class – more like a small frigate than a sloop – built at Chatham Dockyard and launched in 1776. There is no known picture of her, but Samuel Atkins's watercolour Ships of the Line off Dover depicts a twenty-gun Sphinx-class ship that would serve as a close approximation to the Ariadne.
Yarmouth's literary associations
Woodforde's first visit in 1775
Woodforde's first visit in 1775 – Washbourne Cooke
Woodforde's second visit in 1776
Woodforde's third visit in 1778
Woodforde's third visit in 1778 – the journey to Yarmouth